“Did you hurt him?” Ava asked.
“The day I got out of the hospital,” I said. “They took me to a small garage. I thought for a second they were going to do me in. Instead, they had the guy in a chair. And a gun on a table. It was my initiation. To prove I could do what needed to be done. So I did.”
I saw the look on Ava’s face. The realization that she had just slept with a killer.
“And the other guy?” she asked.
“Never got him. But we sent our message. And I got my leather cut. I was patched in. So to me I’ll never forget that night. The night I was attacked. July 27th.” I swallowed hard. “Get some sleep, sweetie.”
I started to lean in but stopped myself. I couldn’t kiss her goodnight. I couldn’t go over the line.
So I hurried to stand and walk away, my dick swaying back and forth.
“I think I figured it out,” Ava said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Our connection.”
“Oh?”
Ava smiled from the bed as I stood in the doorway. “Yeah. July 27th.”
“What about?”
“That was the night you almost died. That was the same date my mother was murdered.”
I didn’t say anything to that. I didn’t play the fate game or any of that bullshit.
But it did stick with me.
It stuck with me when I climbed into the shower. It stuck with me as I dropped Ava’s soaking wet clothing out of the shower. It stuck with me as I cleaned myself up.
And then it hit me. Bad.
July 27th.
The same date… that was coincidence.
But there was one question I didn’t ask.
What year?
I met up with the undercover cop and took off my sunglasses. Jeff was a sly prick, the jackass high school football star who dreamt big but came up short. So now he enjoyed life as a cop for Bishop - and the county - normally riding undercover and busting up anyone he wanted. His IA record was as thick as my dick and he had no signs of slowing down.
Jeff also had a thing for nose candy and strippers. His paycheck couldn’t cover that which was why he became a close friend to the MC.
I threw him a few bills and he nodded to me as he stuck them into his pocket.
“What do you have for me?” I asked.
“A rough night,” Jeff said.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“I pulled those reports you wanted. Record of your incident. Funny how nobody was ever brought in for questioning on it. Looks like they cared for about three seconds.”
“That’s how you guys tend to treat us wild outlaws.”
Jeff laughed. “Yeah, right. Okay, so that same night, there was a little list of bullshit crime. All around the outside of Bishop. Break ins. Windows smashed in. Little shit. But there was one big one. Here you go.”
Jeff took out a piece of paper and unfolded it.
Shit, it wasn’t a police report. I didn’t need that. It was the fucking headline of the local paper.
GROCERY STORE OWNER GUNNED DOWN
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“I remember that one,” Jeff said. “I was just on the force when it went down. The roof to that store was leaking and she was there mopping up the mess. Never understood why her husband wasn’t there though. I thought set up but I had no pull in the case. So she was there mopping and someone came in and just…”
I shook my head.
It was fucking Ava’s mother. A picture of her, black and white, and I could see the resemblance. Shit, Ava’s father was in the paper. Even Ava’s name was mentioned twice.
“Here’s the thing,” Jeff said, “there’s something on the police report.”
“What?” I asked.
“You know it went unsolved, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Okay. The police had no idea what to think or do. It was straight up murder. They went after you guys but the footprints never made sense to them. The floor was wet, right? Whatever she had in the bucket left a little streak on the floor. Shit, Jace, this was before the crazy forensics we have now. But they came up with one thing that made sense.”
“Which is what?”
“There were two men there that night,” Jeff said. “The police tried to keep that hidden. Because it got even deeper.”
“How so, Jeff?”
Jeff rubbed his nose. “You asked for reports. I gave them.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled.
I reached into the car and grabbed him. I pulled him through the driver’s window and threw him to the ground. One kick to the stomach and he was waving his hands, giving up.
“Fine! Fine!” he yelled.
“What else do you know?”
“The notes were lost,” Jeff said. “Or destroyed on purpose. Whatever. The case was let go because one of the guys… fuck.”
“What?”
“One of the footprints matched a body that was found a month later. Way up in the mountains though.”
I felt my heart sink. I felt like I could throw up right there on the spot.
Instead, I backed up and took another bill out of my pocket. I dropped it down to Jeff and climbed on my motorcycle.
“Call me anytime!” he yelled over my thundering motor.
I peeled away, kicking rock and dust into Jeff’s face as I sped away.